Art of making cutlery-handles



(No Model.)

A; JOHNSTON.

ART 0F MAKING GUTLBRY HANDLES.

1y so, 1889.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALLEN` JOHNSTON, OF OTTUMVA, IOWA.

ART OF MAKING CUTLERY-HANDLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part 0f Letters Patent N0. 407,826, dated July 30, 1889.

Application filed February 18, 1889. Serial No. 300,222. (No model.)

To all whom t Huey concern:

Be it known that I, ALLEN JOHNSTON, a citizen of the United States, residing in Ottumwa, in the county of Wapello and State of Iowa, have invented a new and useful Improvement in the Art of lvlanufacturing Cutlery-Handles, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in the art of manufacturing cutlery-handles, and more particularly to the art of manufacturing that class of cutlery-handles which have handle-pieces of Wood or other like material secured upon the shank of the knife or fork, the same being re-enforced at one or both ends of the handle by soft-metal bolsters molded thereon after the handle-pieces are secured to the shank. In manufacturing such handles it has heretofore been customary to first rivet orother wise secure the handle-pieces upon the shank, then clamp the knife in a suitable mold and pour in the soft metal to form the bolster or bolsters at the end or ends of the handle, and, finally, grind and finish the entire handle to the shape required, the metal and wood portions of the handle being both in part ground away in the grinding and polishing step of the process. The wooden handle-pieces, when first put on the shank in the rough, are necessarily considerably larger than the finished handle, and the soft-metal bolster is of course cast of a corresponding size and requires to be afterward ground away to a corresponding extent. The metal which is ground away from the rough-cast bolsters in the process of grinding and finishing the handles being mixed with .particles of emery from the grinding-wheel, particles of iron or steel from the rivets and shank of the handle, and particles of wood from the handle, are generally in this old process thrown away as refuse. and loss, and this is an item of expense which materially increases the cost of the finished product, as the bolsters are usually made of comparatively expensive alloys, such as the alloy of tin and copper, for example. The work required in grinding and polishing the rough-cast bolster also adds to the cost of making the handle, especially as in the old process this grinding and polishing was done by hand.

The object of my invention is to provide a method or process of making such handles whereby the handles may be produced much more rapidly and cheaply, and the waste of metal incident to, as well as the time and labor required in, the grinding of the bolsters may be avoided or saved.

To this end my invention consists in first securing therough handle-pieces to the shank of the knife or fork, as heretofore; second," grinding the handle to the finished shape, and, third, casting the bolsters on the handle and shank of the corresponding finished shape, so that no subsequent grinding of handle or bolster will be necessary.

In practicing my invention it is very essen- Atial that in the second step of t-he process the handles of all the knives be ground exactly alike and to the same precise size, so that the casting-mold will accurately fit the handle; and as it is not practicable to do this with sufficient accuracy by hand, I have devised a machine by which the handles may be automatically ground of the precise form and size re-v quired to fit the mold.

In the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, I have shown at Figures l, 23, and 4, for thebetter explanation of my process, perspective Views of a handle in different stages of its manufacture according to my invention; at Figs. 5 and G longitudinal and cross-sectional views of an automatic machine, which may be used for grinding the handles in the second step of my process, and at Fig. 7 a sectional view of a mold, which may be used in the third step of my process, for casting the finished bolster upon the already ground or shaped handle.

In the drawings, B represents the shank of a piece of cutlery-such as a knife, for example-C @,thewooden handle-pieces secured thereto by the rivets c, and D the soft-metal bolster, which is cast upon the handle at one or both ends. The shank B has the usual slot or opening b for the metal to flow through, and thus unite the two parts of the bolster which lie on opposite sides of the shank. The rough or unground handle-pieces C C are firstsecured upon the shank B, as shown in Fig. 2. The handle as shownin Fig. 2 is then placed in an automatic grinding-machinesuch as that indicated in Figs. 5 and 6, for exampleand ground accurately and truly to IOO machine.

the required shape and size, as indicated in Fig. 3. The handle thus ground to shape and size is next placed in the mold indicated in Fig. 7, which mold corresponds to and is adapted to fit the shape and size of handle produced by the grinding-machine, and the softmetal bolster D cast thereon, as indicated in Fig. 4, said mold producing the bolster of the shape and size required, so that no further or subsequent grinding of either handle or bolsteris necessary. If desired, a finished bolster may be in like manner cast upon the opposite end of the handle. It is frequentlycus tomary, however, to omit this latter bolster,

Vand for this reason I have not shown it inl the drawings.

The automatic grinder indicated in Figs. 5

land 6 consists, essentially, in a revolving emery-Wheel B a revolving knife-holder D', a revolving .former F, a laterallyswinging and longitudinally-reciprocating frame D?, carrying said knife-holder and former, and a roller-rest G, against which the former F revolves to guide the revolving handle in its relation to the emery-Wheel, so that every handle will be ground of the same size and shape, and thus properlyT iit the mold K K.

The mold K K is of the usual construction, and is familiar to those skilled in the art.

The machine indicated inV Figs. 5 and 6 is fully shown and described in my application, Serial No. 272,767, filed May 4, 1888, to Which and to the patent thereon to be granted refer ence is hereby made for a more full descrip-` tion of the same, as my present invention does not involve the particular construction of such After the bolster has thus been cast upon the handle the entire surface of the handle maybe put through a final polishing step or process, if desired; but such final polishing is not required, as by my process the mold leaves the bolster of the exact shape required and With a fine smooth surface, and the polishing or finishing of the handle may be done to any extent required before the bolster is cast thereon.

It Will be understood in practicing my improved process or method that the order in Which the several steps composing the process are taken is an essential matter, because vthe advantage and saving are due to the order in which the several steps are taken.

I claiml. The improvement in the art or process of manufacturing cutlery-handles, consisting in first securing the rough handle-pieces to the shank; second, grinding the handle to the required shape and size, and, third, casting the soft-metal bolster upon such ground handle, substantially as specified.

2. The improvement in the art or process of manufacturing cutlery-handles, consisting in firstsecuring the rough handle-pieces upon the shank; second, automatically grinding such handle to an exact predetermined size and shape, so that it Will fit the bolster-casting mold, and, finally, casting a soft-metal bolster of the finished size and shape thereon, substantially as specified.

ALLEN JOHNSTON.:-

Witnesses:

A. G. HARROW, J. T. I-IACKWORTH. 

